Pranks
by dart53
Summary: There'd been a series of….well..., incidents around the mansion. Nothing serious. Yet.


There'd been a series of minor, well, … incidents… at the mansion recently,… screws loosened on a board, a line laying across the running path, maybe a knot worked free so the rope would drop a man using it in the middle of the stream, instead of carrying him safely over it, on a run through the obstacle course. Articles of clothing gone missing. And, one of Craig's favorites, so far, shaving soap swapped out for a disc of colored and textured wax.

Nothing serious. Yet.

Garrison could hardly blame the men. He was constantly kept busy shuttling back and forth to headquarters, and he always had work to do at the base, but the men didn't have anything to burn off their energy if they weren't on a mission. Even though Sergeant Major Rawlins did his best to keep them occupied with training, they usually found a way to turn those exercises to their own ends.

So far no one had been hurt. So far they hadn't 'attacked' the food. All of them liked to eat too much, Goniff especially, and even though the special units tended to get the best when it came to quality, rationing kept supplies a little low. Alcohol was off limits too, that went without saying. But a dose of chili oil, something that wasn't found in general stores on base, and that was unheard of in the local markets, had recently found its way into a pitcher of iced water handed around after a session of hand-to-hand that included some of the regular guards. That little incident had taken more than a little advanced planning.

Most of the action, so far, had been confined to the main wing where the men were housed and the areas of the grounds where they did their training. So far, they seemed to be sharing out being prey and predator pretty evenly. But a rather effective 'stink' bomb of match heads and ammonia had been found in the mess the regular soldiers shared a couple of days ago. Garrison didn't know if that was something the guys got up to, or something one of the enlisted men did just to get in on the 'fun'. Whatever the source, things had been rather quiet since they'd dismantled it…and that made him nervous.

Something was definitely brewing today, and the target seemed to be Actor. He'd heard them calling for the Italian throughout the morning. And from the sound of it he'd sleep well tonight. If someone hailed him from the lower level kitchen, the next call was sure to be from the third floor where the uniforms and clothing they'd managed to collect for their work was housed, and the next from the main floor library, or even out back. Actor could take care of himself, Craig thought, and turned back to the report on his desk, but he kept his ears pricked for trouble.

g

"Hey, Actor! Telephone!" Casino left the receiver on the table in the main hall and continued on down to the kitchen, passing the con man on the stairs. "Sounds like a pretty classy dame for a change. What's she want with the likes a you?" the safe cracker asked, earning a frown from his teammate.

Though rare the men did, occasionally, receive telephone calls here at the mansion. And Actor had given the private number to the house out to a select few of the women he knew in the area. He paused in front of the mirror that hung over the table holding the phone, and smoothed back his hair, and adjusted the collar of the army-issue shirt he wore. 'I really should have these made by a competent tailor,' he thought, as he picked up the receiver. "Yes?" he waited a moment. "Hello, is anyone there?" After a few seconds the silence that had originally greeted him broke and was replaced by the buzz of an open telephone connection. Actor frowned at the receiver a moment before he replaced the hand unit and started down the hall to the large library. Before he got more than a few steps Sergeant Major Rawlins hailed him with a shout from his office which was in the opposite direction down the hall in the adjoining military wing of the manor house.

"Hey, you! Actor!"

Rawlins looked up when the big man appeared in his doorway. He held out the receiver to his phone. "She says she wants the _tall bloke with the accent_!" As the man moved into his office to take the phone he glared at him. "This is _not_ your private number, and I am _not_ your private secretary!" And he kept hold of the hand unit when the Italian tried to take it from him. "Have I made myself perfectly clear?!"

Actor took hold of the phone but had to give it a bit of a twist to get it away from Rawlins. Fortunately his greater height gave him the leverage he needed. He didn't bother answering the man's threatening comment, turning his back on him to attend to the call instead. "Yes? With whom do I have the honor of speaking?" The cordial question was met with a snort. "Not you, luv," he heard in his ear. "Was t'other one I wanted!" and the phone, again, broke to that irritating buzz. Actor turned to return the phone's receiver to its cradle and found Rawlins standing with his arms crossed, silently scowling at him. Rather than engage the little man he just gave a curt bow, turned on his heel, and left.

Closing the door on the Sergeant Major's grumbling Actor started off down the hall towards the main library again only to find the group's youngest member moving up the hall in his direction.

Chief was shaking his head. "Wouldn't risk it," he said as he approached.

Actor stopped, "Why? What's wrong?"

"Warden said that Major Johns is expected any minute. Said we'd better lay low for a while," the young man told him as he passed.

Garrison's office was in the main wing of the house, it was more convenient as he frequently worked on reports well after the time the doors to the military wing were closed and locked. He would undoubtedly bring the visiting officer there, or even into the large common room. Johns wouldn't appreciate having to associate with 'criminals' and the Italian con man had absolutely no desire to associate with Johns. Actor spent a frustrated moment looking longingly at the books he could see through the library's open double doors before deciding it wasn't worth the risk, he turned and followed Chief up the stairs to their quarters.

When Actor entered the large upstairs room that had been converted to their quarters he found the others already complaining about being confined there, even though he knew it was probably an unofficial suggestion. None of them liked Major Johns and all of them would do whatever they could to avoid him.

"Do you believe that Johns guy?" Casino grouched as he settled at the table in the middle of the room and pulled a deck of cards from his pocket.

'Yeah!" Goniff agreed as he pulled out a chair to join his friend. "Comin' out here on the only day when it ain't rainin' and Rawlins don't have some torture planned for us out on that obstacle course a his!"

"Could be worse." Chief tossed out as he joined the other two and accepted the card Casino sent spinning his way.

'Yeah? How's that, Junior?"

"Could be you havin' to deal with the guy, Pappy, 'stead a the Warden…."

The pickpocket and the safe cracker shared a look and then Casino gave a shrug. "Guess you'r right. I hate that guy." He flicked a card in Goniff's direction and then looked up at Actor. "You want in on this, Beautiful?"

Actor tamped down the irritation hearing that name always stirred in him. "No, thank you," he responded as graciously as he could manage. He checked the table next to his chair for the book he was currently reading here in their quarters. The table was cleared off and dusted… He checked the bookshelf and spotted the title on the third shelf. Glancing around the large room Actor found it rather neater than it usually was and decided that, though uncommon, Winnie must have come up and done a little housekeeping for them. She's the only one who would have bothered to dust, he thought.

Actor stepped up to the bookcase and reached out to tip his chosen volume off the shelf. It was wedged in tighter than usual and it took a bit of effort to get it to shift. When the book did move, the whole line of books seem to come with it, and before he could do much more than be surprised there was a row of books on the floor at his feet. His eyebrows registered the fact that, though separated into three or four sections, the books were all still laying cover to cover.

There was laughter and giggling from the table in the middle of the room.

Actor's eyes narrowed as he reached a hand out and tried to retrieve a tome from another shelf and got the same results. He stooped down to get a closer look and found the books had all been paper-clipped together along the tops of their covers. Carefully opening the first book in the section laying at his feet to the back cover he cautiously bent the clip back and released the book. He inspected it for damage but the thick carpet had softened the fall and there was no sign of crumpled corners or broken spines. Snapping the volume closed as he rose he turned on his teammates.

g

Craig heard a loud thump overhead, and then another one. That usually meant the start of a 'little fun' between Casino and Chief. He shoved away from the desk and exited the room with enough speed that a few pages were pulled off the top of the stack sitting in his 'Out' box. By the time the forms settled gently on the floor he'd already reached the stairs, which he took two at a time. Garrison arrived in the doorway to the men's quarters just in time to see Actor with an upraised book threatening a laughing Casino, who had one arm wrapped around his middle, and the other one raised to protect his head.

"Drop it!"

The shouted command froze the action in the room. A moment later Actor's gaze traveled up his own upraised arm, and the look of astonishment on his face when he saw the book clutched in his hand started the laughter all over again.

To cover his embarrassment the book was lowered and tucked into his side as Actor turned a smile on the Lieutenant and asked. "Have we a mission?" When the Warden just frowned back at him the con man prompted. "Your meeting with Johns? Did it result in a mission for us?"

"Johns never bothers to come out here. He just orders me in to headquarters." Garrison studied the three innocent men sitting at the table.

Actor switched his gaze from his commander to his teammates and an eyebrow arched up. "Oh, I see." He took a threatening step towards the table and Casino's arm went up again.

"Hold it!" Garrison moved into the room and took up a position between the two potential combatants. "What's gotten into you guys? You're acting like a bunch of school kids."

"Aw! Nobody's got hurt. Nothin's got ruined."

"Yeah, it's just some harmless pranks…"

"Pranks?"

"You know… Tricks? Jokes?" Casino said hopefully. "Pranks? Lemme guess." They didn't know much about the man who commanded them yet. Well, other than the fact that he'd gotten himself caught and took a beating rather than give up where they were… and been pretty surprised when they showed up to rescue him. And that he could handle himself out on a job. "You probably never done none a that when you were a kid, did ya, Warden?"

The Lieutenant answered "No," just like they knew he would, but the answer came with a laugh.

"Well, see, that explains it then," Casino said. When he looked around at his teammates he got nods of understanding and agreement.

"Explains what?" Garrison propped his fists on his hips and scanned the faces of his men.

"All those crazy ideas you come up with on our missions. See," Casino explained. "If you'd a been able to pull a practical joke or two once in a while, back when you were a kid, you'd a gotten all a that out a your system by now."

Laughter filled the room, even the Warden joined in.

" 'at's right, mate." Goniff grinned up at him. "You missed out an we're payin' for it now!"

Actor had already taken a seat and Garrison pulled a chair up and joined them. It seemed as good a time as any to get to know his men a little bit better. "Pranks, huh?" and he turned on the little second story man. "I imagine you pulled enough of them, Goniff. What was your favorite?"

The cat burglar stuck his tongue in his cheek as he mulled the question over. He had hundreds of them under his belt, then he laughed; probably best to stick to one of the milder ones to start. "Well… I filled the old man's socks with jelly once when I was about seven." He leaned a little towards the Warden to confide, "I thought it was 'ilarious…even me mum thought it was funny." But he shrugged. "The old man, 'ee didn't share our opinion." And he'd taken a pretty good hiding for it later, when his mum was off to the shops…but he left that part out.

Garrison turned on Casino. "And you?"

Well, he'd pulled his share, but since Goniff led off with his old man…. "Pop made his own beer," and to Chief's raised eyebrow he responded, "among other things… Anyway we were working out in the yard. It was hot and he was wringin' wet. He tossed me his empty and told me; 'Fill that up for me.'" Casino laughed, "so," and he shrugged. "I did."

"No, you never!" Goniff turned on his friend. "What'd you fill it up with, then?

"Salted lemon water." Casino told them before he let out a belly laugh. "I thought he was gonna spit it right across the fence and into the neighbor's place."

Four pair of eyes shifted and settled on the Italian.

Well this seemed to have to do with family, he thought, but he was reluctant to reveal too much about himself, so he made a simple change to the story... "I'm afraid I mixed a rather fast acting glue into the paint a friend of mine was using once." He smiled at the memory. "He gave me the piece in the end. It was an unfinished landscape…with a paintbrush jutting out of it." Actor held his left hand out flat, the index finger angled up at about 45-degrees.

Casino laughed and turned on the youngest member of the team. "Okay, kid, you'r up."

Chief scratched his neck, below the right ear, and thought for a moment. "My grandfather was trying to teach me to hunt once. He was havin' me track sheep for practice and I wasn't very good at it yet. So he took me out again to try and show me, and we come across these tracks that he couldn't figure out. They looked like sheep…but they didn't move like sheep. So we followed 'em, him scratchin his head over it the whole time and wonderin' if it was some kinda new animal that we were followin'." His grandfather had actually been worried about shapeshifters, but you didn't talk to strangers about that... "Well, we'd butchered some sheep right before then…and it was my grandmother who really came up with it... When we finally come up on 'em they were his sheep alright… but my grandmother and I'd sort a made 'em some boots out a some hide, wax, pitch off the trees, and the other sheep hoves. 'cept I fitted 'em out so I could put 'em on backwards."

The group spent a moment sharing a laugh over the memories.

"So, you never done nothing like that?" Casino asked the Warden with a look of sympathy.

Garrison chuckled. "No…. But thanks for telling me what I might be in for."

"Aw, blimey!" Goniff piped up, trying to cover any bits of business they may have given away. "Once you pull a joke, you can never repeat it. Them's the rules!"

Garrison placed his hand flat on the table and pushed up out of the chair. "I've got reports to finish." He looked around the men gathered at the table. "And now that you're safe from Major Johns you'd better get back downstairs, because you are _not_ safe from Sergeant Major Rawlins."

Goniff groaned for the group. "But 'ee said 'ee didn't 'ave nothin' for us to do once it got after lunch."

"Change of plans, Goniff." The Warden had reached the doorway by then and turned on them. "Now, get!" But he still had a ghost of a smile on his face.

The group's fooling around had gotten them in enough trouble with Rawlins during the afternoon session that day, that he and Garrison decided the following day he probably needed to take a run through the obstacle course with his men. After the first mission he'd been with them through most of their training exercises as a way to create the teamwork and confidence in each others abilities they would need to have for their work over on the continent. Once that was established Craig had turned their training back over to his NCO unless it was a new skill, or, like now, more of a disciplinary action.

g

"On your feet!" Garrison called out as he flipped the overhead lights on.

The men groaned. It was half an hour earlier than their regular call out. Usually it was Sergeant Major Rawlins slamming through the door with a demanding 'Get on your feet, you lay abouts!' The fact that it was the Warden meant they were in for it.

"You've got five minutes to get yourselves downstairs." Garrison waited for a beat, "Now, move!"

Goniff watched as the Lieutenant turned on his heel and headed off towards the stairs, then he scrubbed his fingers through his hair as he turned on Casino. "Told you. You pushed Rawlins too far, mate."

The group's explosives expert straightened and frowned. "Me?!" He jabbed a finger in the cat burglar's direction, "That was all your doin', you lousy little Limey!" He rose up and took a threatening step forward, "Why, I ought a..."

"Save it, Casino." Chief advised.

"Agreed." Actor pulled on the fatigue trousers and turned to pluck the shirt he'd used yesterday off the coat tree where he'd hung it. As distasteful as it was to him to wear the same clothing, it was obvious from the Lieutenant's dress they were repeating their trip through the obstacle course, so there was no sense in dirtying up another set. "It appears we are in enough trouble right now without you adding to it by starting a fight. I suggest we cooperate with the Warden by doing as he asks this morning." The big man sent a warning look into the alcove where Casino and Goniff had set up their cots. "Whatever that may be."

Casino opened his mouth to argue, so did Goniff, but after getting a glare from the Italian con man they shared a look and then both of them shrugged their agreement. The Warden might be irritated with them right now, but he didn't hold a grudge like the Sergeant Major did. If they could please him on the first run through he'd probably let them off the hook.

They were all dressed and made it down into the lower level in just over five minutes. If Rawlins had been running the show they would have found him standing by an open door with his arm extended, rigidly pointing the way out onto the training grounds, his nose stuck in the air sniffing out his displeasure. This morning they found the Warden leaned up against the kitchen counter finishing a cup of coffee. Breakfast was laid out on the table.

"Get to it," he advised them. "You're going to need your energy this morning."

g

They met their commander at the obstacle course at the usual time. Even though the Warden had gotten them out of bed early, he'd allowed them time to eat breakfast; a rather uninspired one since the base's Army cook had provided it. But he had insisted they clean up after themselves. When Actor forgot his own advice, and reminded him that it was one of Mrs. Marley's days to work at the mansion, Garrison reminded _him_ that Mrs. Marley wasn't responsible for cleaning up after them. The Lieutenant growled that reminder out too, so they did what they were told, and threw in wiping down the counters and giving the floor a quick mop, just to be safe.

Garrison just stood there staring at them long enough to make them all a bit uncomfortable before he turned and started off. 'Follow my lead," he called over his shoulder.

They all groaned. The course had several levels of difficulty built into it. The Warden leading meant they were probably headed for the most challenging options.

The beginning of the course was just a running path that took them about five minutes to complete. That got everyone warmed up and, hopefully, ready for whatever came next. Chief spotted the Warden at the far end of the square balance beams and hopped up on them to follow him, the others mounting up behind him. This one wasn't too bad. It was a series of long construction beams that had been laid end-to-end in a bit of a zigzag. The surfaces of the beam were flat and the ends were secured by bolts… unlike the logs that sat next to them or the smaller poles that lay in wait over on the most difficult side. It looked like the Warden might not be as irritated as they thought.

There was another bit of running as they made their way to the next obstacle...and they were faced with a vertical wall to get over. To adjust the difficulty on this the top was stair-stepped, highest to lowest running left to right. The Warden had chosen the highest section on the left. Since he knew where he was headed and what was going to be required Garrison had hit the wall with enough speed to get himself up to the top and over without assistance. The men following him had slowed down to assess the challenge. They needed to work together to get over and ended up boosting Actor up first so he could reach back down to help them get to the top.

It was only a few steps to the tires. The difficulty level on this one was adjusted by changing the size and placement of the tires. Using the smallest ones meant a lot of high stepping and precise footwork to keep from getting tripped up. If it was the biggest tires that were chosen it meant leaping from place to place. But Garrison had gone straight up the middle; those tires were laid out so just shortening your stride a little got you through without too much trouble.

Next it was down on their bellies to wriggle under ropes and lengths of barbed wire. Again the most difficult section was on the left-hand side. There was less space to get under over there, and it was made almost entirely of barbed wire. There were pockets of mud and sections of rock for them to struggle across. When Garrison really wanted to make their lives miserable he stationed some of the regular soldiers at this obstacle and had them shoot live rounds over them as they made their way under the wire. Like the previous obstacle the Lieutenant had chosen the center section and, so far, no one was shooting at them.

After that was getting across the stream that ran through the property. There were several ways to do this. Just plowing into the water and going for a swim was one of them. If that was the choice served up for the day the difficulty depended on the weather. Most of the time the stream was one of those placid, picturesque little jobs that got featured in paintings and postcards of the English countryside, but several days of rain, or just one bad storm, and it was out of its banks and sporting whitecaps. But there were other ways across too. There was a rope bridge...the men all thought whoever had decided to call it a bridge had probably never had to cling onto the upper cords while tightrope walking across it. There was a set up that resembled the rig the Navy used to get from ship to ship out at sea, and then there was just a plain rope that hung from the branches of the big tree that grew on the bank. That one was the easiest to booby trap so it was always approached with caution. The Warden's choice was the rope bridge. Everyone but Goniff swore over that...but the little second story man actually liked it. In fact he was so good on it he'd usually do a twirl somewhere close to mid-stream.

More running and they were confronted by a set of angled platforms. You ran, or scrambled up one side and down the other, depending on which set was selected, and the angle varied from one section to the next. This time it was the middle set; fairly steep but generally navigable without a rope, unlike the ones off to the left of the course. As soon as they got over the platforms they were back to running. Unlike the top of the course where a path had been cut, they had to make their own way. Difficulty over here was adjusted by picking the pasture, the open woodland, or the bramble. Garrison like to run and, true to form, they spotted him making his way across the pasture. On the surface that seemed like the easiest route, until you factored in the sun beating down on you.

At the end of their cross-country run the cons were faced with getting up and over the last obstacle. And it was about two stories tall. At one side was a knotted rope hanging down over the top of a solid wall. Next to that was a cargo net strung up on poles and held out at a bit of an angle. Just to make life interesting the cargo net could be secured in the center of the timbers that wove through the top and bottom of the net, allowing it to flip and spin. At the far left side was another solid wall, but that one just had stubs of broken poles poking out of it here and there, and an occasional hole punched in its surface for toe and finger holds. This morning it was the cargo net... they could tell that because it was still bouncing and swaying from the Lieutenant's passage up and over it but, and they counted themselves lucky, the top beam, at least, was secured on either end. The Lieutenant was already off on the last leg of the running path that led back to the house.

g

When they arrived at the starting point again, instead of the Warden there to congratulate them and tell them they were free to go on with their lives...they were faced with Sergeant Major Rawlins. The British NCO stood behind a table that held water, and a compressed food bar from one of the more detestable ration packs had been put out for each of them. Rawlins smiled at them over their water. "Don't forget your lunch," he advised them before sending them on their way with a cheerful wave and an, "Off you go!"

The second lap of the obstacle course was much like the first. The Warden switched up the difficulty level here and there, but the big addition was a table and target placed at each obstacle. The first one to arrive at the table took the weapon, checked it, took aim, and fired at the target. Since Garrison was leading them the first shot was always his, and it was almost always dead center of the target. The weapons varied, so did their condition. If they jammed, whoever had it at the time was expected to clear the jam and take their shot. Some times the ammunition was loose, and not all of it rolling around the table was the right kind. The weapon had to be loaded before each shot. They could see one of the mansion guards taking his ease in the shade of a tree near each target to make sure each man took a shot, instead of just handing his chance over to Chief, who was the only one who came close to the Warden's accuracy...and then he only just came close.

When they hit the top of the course again it still wasn't over. They were greeted by another round of water and another pile of food bars. The only one who seemed to take interest in them was Goniff, he eagerly stuffed his pockets with them. But like Casino growled at him, there was no accounting for taste. Rawlins waved them off again with the same cheery smile and they turned to follow the Warden as he headed off for the third round of the course.

"I'm gonna kill that guy!" Casino promised. He didn't really mean it anymore, which surprised him more than anyone else, but it seemed the appropriate thing to say, given their circumstances.

"I'll help," Goniff offered without too much enthusiasm. The other two men just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

At the first obstacle the tables and targets were gone and they all breathed a sigh of relief. They knew those targets would be collected into the Lieutenant's office for evaluation at the end of the exercise, and since their scores were combined, they would probably land them all out on the firing range at the end of the day...if there was ever going to be an end to this day.

Now that they were tired Garrison seemed to be concentrating on the most difficult options. He was still going through them all on his own, but they had to band together to help each other. Chief dropped back to provide encouragement for Goniff on the runs. Actor needed a little more help than the rest on the balance beams; the thin poles rolled under his larger feet. Chief finally accepted a boost up and over the vertical wall which was provided by the taller con man. And Goniff ran back to make sure Casino didn't trip and fall when they had to go through the high-stepping smaller set of tires. Chief was able to give them all a heads up on the soldiers hidden near the barbed wire so the live fire overhead was no big surprise. Casino put on a burst of speed and was able to make a leap for the rope that carried him across the stream when that was the choice, and he had enough strength to send the thing swinging back across so Actor could catch it. But, then, he hadn't held back. They were close enough that he'd seen the Warden use the rope so he knew it wasn't booby trapped.

g

The men made the short run through the bushes to the next obstacle together, grousing and complaining the whole way. They arrived at the angled platforms in a knot and Garrison was nowhere to be seen.

"Which one, then?" Goniff asked with just a little bit of a wheeze.

They all scanned the brush on their side of the platforms. No Warden. No guards. No Sergeant Major. Chief cocked his head and listened and then gave it a quick shake when he couldn't hear anything from the other side either.

"That one." Casino declared as he waved his hand at the easiest option off to the right.

"What if he finds out" Actor asked between gasps.

"Who cares?" Chief answered for all of them.

They hit the obstacle almost at the same time and went up the leading side and over the top together. All of them let gravity take over as they built up speed on the downward slope. Casino was the first to leap off the boards, but when he landed he let out a yelp.

By then it was too late for the rest of them.

The 'solid' ground gave way and boiled up around the safe cracker's shoe as it sank beneath him. Misjudging his landing Casino cart-wheeled his arms but couldn't save himself from falling. With variations, each man suffered the same fate. Chief put a little more power into his leap but couldn't clear the hidden trap. Actor tried veering off to the side and still ended up on his back in the growing mire of mud. Goniff came closest to getting away by turning on his toes and making an attempt to scramble back up that side. He misjudged his footing about half-way up though, and ended up sliding back down on his belly. He might have gotten away with just a pair of muddied shoes if Casino hadn't grabbed him by the pant leg in irritation and pulled him down to share their fate.

They were all too busy gasping and swearing and wiping their eyes to notice the Warden, flanked by Rawlins and the guards, walk out of the trees and approach the edge of their pit. Garrison stood there quietly surveying his men as they finally took notice of him.

Actor plunged his hand down into the muck and pulled up a double layer of burlap in his fist, here and there around the pit it was still carrying its load of dry dirt and leaves as it floated atop the mud. He dropped it with a muted splash and ran the back of his hand across his forehead, leaving a smear of mud as he unthinkingly sought to wipe away the sweat. "And just how long did _this_ take you?"

The Lieutenant crossed his arms and rocked up on the balls of his feet a bit as he smiled back at him. "Oh, most of the night." He indicated the men ranged behind him with a tilt of his head. "But I had a little help."

"Very funny!" Casino growled, combining that with a handful of mud flung in the Warden's direction.

Garrison ducked, easily avoiding the muck. "Was it?" he asked with a laugh. "I'm new at all of this, you know, so I wasn't sure."

For a moment all four cons just sat staring at each other as the mud seeped into their fatigues. Chief was the first one to smile, he dropped his head and started flicking leaves across the skim of water that had formed on the surface of the mud. Actor tested the fine clay between his fingers and then rubbed a glop of it into the backs of his hands. Casino just leaned back against the edge of the pit, stuck his legs out in front of him, crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Blimey!" Goniff flopped back into the mire with a squelch and lay spread-eagle...at least it was cool. "I'm knackered!"

When Actor slipped as he made an effort at getting up the Warden moved up to the edge of the trench and stuck out his hand to help him. The con man turned and took it but, by the set of his feet and the glint in his eye, they both knew the Lieutenant was prepared for any attempt to try and pull him off his feet and into the mud to join them. Outside of a raised brow and half smile that let him know he'd considered it, the Italian accepted the help without trying to take revenge.

Once he had Actor out of the mess Garrison turned back for Chief, and then Casino. Goniff was the last, sitting over waist deep in muck. The Warden hooked him under both arms and pulled him free, but there was a sucking sound and the mud kept his right shoe.

"Alright, there's a truck waiting on the other side of the stream." Garrison looked down and took stock of his muddy clothes. "Swimming across should get the first layer of this stuff off." He'd removed his watch when they first started out on the course so he squinted up at the sun shining down on them through the leaves. "Get yourselves cleaned up and meet me downstairs in an hour and I'll stand you all to a beer down at the Doves."

g

For once they didn't argue over the showers. No one, meaning Actor, took too long, or hogged all the hot water, and no one, meaning Casino, changed out the soap or took all the towels. They were cleaned up, dried off, and dressed in their favorite civilian clothes from stores within an hour. Garrison wasn't downstairs, but with the advantage of his own shower, he'd finished up well ahead and was already outside. One of the smaller canvass-covered trucks had been pulled up, tailgate down, and had been backed up to the door, and the Lieutenant was waiting there at the back corner for them. When they approached it they got a round of applause from the guards who'd been part of the Warden's little prank, they were already loaded on the truck and, apparently, were joining them. Rawlins gave them a grin from the front of the vehicle before he climbed up and slammed the door. As they loaded up and moved into the back to find their seats each of them was greeted by a handshake or a pat on the shoulder or a wisecrack from the guards. And, rather than ride up front with Sergeant Major Rawlins, Garrison loaded in back with them.

Goniff shoved over on the bench to make room for the Army officer. "Hey... That wasn't too bad for your first go Warden," the little second story man offered. "Not bad at all."

"I take that as a compliment." Garrison's gaze swept over his team before coming to rest on the pick pocket. "And like you said, Goniff… At least you never have to worry about _that_ happening again."

Goniff grinned back at their leader, but there was something about the look on his face, and the merriment in the Warden's eyes that made him turn and shoot a worried glance at his teammates as the truck jerked and jostled, and started off for the gate.


End file.
